600 



OBITUAKIES, FOREIGN. 



1796, at Catanea, Sicily, the birthplace of Bel- 

 lini, and at an early age went to Eome to study 

 music. Subsequently he removed to Bologna, 

 and was placed under the instruction of Mar- 

 chesi and Mattei. "When only fifteen he com- 

 posed sacred music, which proved a failure, 

 owing, probably, quite as much to the imma- 

 turity of his genius as to the inaptitude of the 

 theme. His tastes evidently led him to opera, 

 and at the age of eighteen he composed and 

 produced successfully, at Venice, his " Annetta 

 and Lucindo." His knowledge of stage effects 

 aided him in his composition of operatic melo- 

 dies; but his productions remain to this day 

 but little known out of Italy. Cortesi and 

 Gazzaniga h^ive probably done more than any 

 other artistes to favorably impress Americans 

 with the music of Pacini. " Saflb " is his only 

 opera that has reached this country, but is by 

 no means one of his finest efforts. Among 

 these must rank the "Niobe," in which Basta 

 sang at the San Carlos, Naples, in 1826; "Elisa 

 Velasco," produced nine years ago at Florence; 

 and " Saltimbanco," recently sung at Turin. 

 In 1830 " Giovanna d'Arco " was unsuccessfully 

 produced at La Scala, Milan, although Eubini, 

 Tamburini, and Lalande were in the cast. Its 

 failure so disgusted the author that, like Rossini, 

 he is said, for some time after, to have affected 

 an indifference to music. 



Dec. 9. DREYSE, Herr votf, the inventor of 

 the needle-gun, died at Sommerda, Erfurt, Ber- 

 lin. He was born in 1787, was the son of a 

 locksmith, and, in his travels as a journeyman, 

 went to Paris, where he was employed by a 

 German officer, who had been commissioned 

 by Bonaparte to invent a breech-loading rifle. 

 This was in 1809; but it was not until 1836, 

 when he had returned to Prussia, that he pro- 

 duced the siindnadelgewehr, with which the 

 Prussian light infantry were four years after 

 armed. His whole life after this was spent in 

 trying to improve his invention, or to discover 

 something still more effective, and it is said 

 that his genius made him a prisoner, the au- 

 thorities not being willing to have so skilful an 

 inventor go beyond bounds. Of late years, 

 however, he has had more liberty, and he has 

 all his life received the highest honors from his 

 sovereign. His last production was a grenade- 

 rifle, carrying a ball of eighty-eight grammes 

 (nearly three ounces) filled with two and a 

 half grammes of powder (thirty-eight and a 

 half grains). On striking, the missile explodes 

 with great certainty, and scatters itself for 

 three feet around. The moral effect of such a 

 weapon is expected to be very great. Its cal- 

 ibre is -^/ff of an inch. His inventive skill se- 

 cured for him an ample fortune. 



Dec. 13. DAUBENY, CHARLES GILES BRIDE, 

 M. D., an eminent English physicist, professor, 

 and author, died at Oxford. He was born at 

 Stratton, in Gloucestershire, in 1795, and was 

 educated at Winchester and at Magdalen Col- 

 lege, Oxford, where he graduated with high 

 honors. He subsequently studied medicine, 



obtained the degree of M. D., and practised for 

 some years at Oxford, but in 1829 relinquished 

 his profession, in order to devote his whole 

 time to the physical sciences, and more espe- 

 cially to chemistry and botany. In 1833 he 

 was elected Professor of Chemistry in the Uni- 

 versity of Oxford, and retained that position till 

 1855. In 1834 he was appointed to the profes- 

 sorship of Botany, to which was attached, in 

 1840, the professorship of Rural Economy. Both 

 these he held until his death. He' was also, in 

 1853-'54. Examiner in Physical Sciences to the 

 University, and for many years Senior Fellow 

 and Prselector of Natural Philosophy at Mag- 

 dalen College, and Curate of the Botanic Gar- 

 den. He was one of the founders, and always 

 an active member, of the British Association 

 for the Promotion of Science, one of its secre- 

 taries in 1832 and 1836, one of its vice-presi- 

 dents in 1847, and its president in 1856. His 

 scientific works are numerous, and all give evi- 

 dence of careful observation and patient study. 

 Among those of them which have been most 

 popular were, "A Description of Active and 

 Extinct Volcanoes " (2d ed., 1848) ; " An Intro- 

 duction to the Atomic Theory" (2d ed., 1850) ; 

 "Lectures on Roman Agriculture " (1857); and 

 "Lectures on Climate" (1862). In private 

 life, Professor Daubeny was a genial, kindly, 

 agreeable man, with a large circle of acquaint- 

 ance, by whom he was highly esteemed. 



Dec. 27. HARRINGTON, MAMA FOOTE, Count- 

 ess of, in early life an eminent actress, died in 

 Whitehall, London. She was born at Plym- 

 outh, England, in .Time, 1798. Her father, 

 Samuel T. Foote, was the son of the dramatist, 

 Samuel Foote (who died in 1777, and whose 

 '' Lyar " was lately revived in London, with 

 great success, by Charles Matthews). He was 

 in the army, but sold out, and became manager 

 of the Plymouth Theatre. At the age of twelve, 

 in July, 1810, his daughter made her first 

 appearance on the stage, at her father's thea- 

 tre, in the character of Juliet. Her debut in 

 London was made in 1814, as Amanthis, in the 

 " Child of Nature " a drama, by Mrs. Inchbald, 

 taken from the " Zelie " of Madame Genii?, and 

 first acted in 1788. In after-years she became 

 renowned as Maria Darlington, Rebecca, in 

 "Ivanhoe," Virginia, and Miranda. Her 

 popularity was very great, but her merit was 

 commensurate with it. In April, 1831, she 

 married Charles, the fourth Earl of Harring- 

 ton, acquiring, of course, the rank of Countess 

 of Harrington. The Earl died in 1851. Of 

 their two children, the first, Charles, Viscount 

 Petersham, died in 1836, in his fifth year. The 

 other, Lady Jane St. Maur Blanche, is the wife 

 of the Earl of Mount Charles. During her con- 

 nection with the stage as well as in all her 

 subsequent life her reputation was unspotted, 

 and her character was remarkable for purity 

 and loveliness. Her extraordinary beauty, 

 which first won her the attention of her noble 

 husband, was not more attractive than the re- 

 finement and amiability of her conduct, and 



